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Submissions/Wikipedia courses for Czech senior citizens- a way to recruit new Wikipedians

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Info

This is an Open submission for Wikimania 2017 that has not yet been reviewed by a member of the Programme Committee.

Submission no. 5043 - C6, G2
Title of the submission
Wikipedia courses for Czech senior citizens- a way to recruit new Wikipedians
Type of submission (lecture, panel, tutorial/workshop, roundtable discussion, lightning talk, poster, birds of a feather discussion)
Lightning talk
Author of the submission
Vojtěch Dostál
Language of presentation
English
E-mail address
vojtech.dostal@wikimedia.cz
Username
Vojtěch Dostál
Country of origin
Czech Republic
Affiliation, if any (organisation, company etc.)
Wikimedia Czech Republic
Abstract (up to 300 words to describe your proposal)
More than 250 Czech senior citizens have signed up for our Wikipedia courses in the Czech Republic since 2014. What started as a small idea turned into a large program with courses in more than 10 cities of the Czech Republic. Importantly, it is one of the few projects in the Wikimedia world that successfully recruits new Wikipedians who continue to edit months and years after they started taking the courses. Senior citizens - often female - also help mitigate the Wikipedia's content bias stemming from a community rich in male 20-something year-old IT professionals. Over years we have created a community of people interested in educating senior citizens and made successful steps to create a sustainable project that finds many new Wikipedia teachers among former non-Wikipedians, usually employees of regional libraries.
What will attendees take away from this session?
Rather than describing our achievements, which are significant, I will spend a lot of time explaining what was key in achieving success. How did we find participants? How did we find partnering institutions? And who actually instructs the senior citizens and what is our know-how when introducing a senior person to Wikipedia? These are the questions that will be answered, and many more if you are interested.
Theme of presentation
  • Education
For workshops and discussions, what level is the intended audience?
All levels. What matters is interest in senior education.
Length of session (if other than 25 minutes, specify how long)
25 minutes
Will you attend Wikimania if your submission is not accepted?
Yes.
Slides or further information (optional)
Special requests
Is this Submission a Draft or Final? {{Completed Submission}

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